number of organizations staged rallies in front of the US embassy in Jakarta on Monday in protest at US President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur in front of the embassy was closed and traffic was redirected as hundreds of protesters started to arrive.
“At 11.10 a.m., the police closed Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur leading to the US embassy,” the Jakarta Police’s Traffic Management Center wrote on its official Twitter account @TMCPoldaMetro on Monday.
Rallies have taken place almost daily following Trump’s controversial remarks last Wednesday, which said his administration acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would move the US embassy in the Jewish state from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Trump’s remarks were met with condemnation in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued a statement criticizing Trump’s decision.
A number of organizations including Indonesia’s two largest Islamic groups Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah have also expressed their condemnation with the former saying that Trump’s move could worsen tensions in the Middle East. (ebf)
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